Affordable housing

Pennsylvania ADU bill clears House, heads to Senate

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro declared he intended to go big on housing. On Monday, at least one piece of that ambition cleared the state House with a bipartisan vote, setting up a tougher sell in the Republican-controlled Senate. The House passed House Bill 2186, requiring municipalities statewide to allow one accessory dwelling unit per residential […]

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ROAD wins House nod, carving BTR out from institutional investor ban

The build-to-rent (BTR) industry, which has been under siege from legislative uncertainty since March, just got a modicum of welcome news.  On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed an amended version of the U.S. Senate’s 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act by a margin of 396 to 13 that removed the proposed seven-year selloff

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Missouri housing incentives bill hits Gov. Kehoe’s desk for sign-off

Missouri lawmakers have passed legislation to spur housing development statewide – from downtown commercial corridors to rural communities – by establishing a new class of development zones, offering tax incentives to convert vacant buildings into housing and directing new revenue to underserved areas. The bill cleared its final hurdle on Wednesday and now awaits Gov.

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Opinion: ‘This time it’s different.’ U.S. of AmeRegCorp. AARP. UMMC. MHI. MHARR. Congress and manufactured homes

Per the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) website: “MBA issued a Mortgage Action Alliance (MAA) Call to Action urging members to contact their U.S. Representative to ensure…troubling provisions within the Senate-passed 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act are fixed as the House prepares its response.” A survey of quotes from various sources revealed tensions among various

Opinion: ‘This time it’s different.’ U.S. of AmeRegCorp. AARP. UMMC. MHI. MHARR. Congress and manufactured homes Read More »

New Rochelle housing surge proves predictable zoning’s impact

New Rochelle embraced the abundance mindset long before the “yes in my backyard ” crowd made it cool. Today, the city, 25 minutes north of New York City by train, is a reference point for how zoning reform and predictable approvals can speed mixed-income housing production citywide. The city built on a 2015 rezoning that

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Ivory Prize honors solutions in a higher rate, higher risk backdrop

The affordability crisis in American housing demands more invention, more experimentation and more scalable models to break through the chronic chokeholds of economic, building-technology, and political will. The hard truth is that, against a backdrop of a harsher-than-expected new-home sales season and a higher-for-longer interest-rate environment, the operating environment is making it harder to fund,

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After pushback, New Hampshire course-corrects pro-housing laws

Last year, New Hampshire lawmakers jumped on the bandwagon of state legislatures targeting a worsening housing shortage by mandating that local governments permit multifamily housing in commercially zoned areas. The effort sought to boost housing supply and improve affordability by stripping away local zoning authority. Local governments, true to the state’s “live free or die”

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State zoning preemption tested as Colorado lot bills fail

After years of pushing housing affordability reforms, Colorado legislators hit a wall — crashing up against the limits of how much zoning control they could strip from local governments. This year, they sought to require most cities to allow single-family homes on lots as small as 2,000 square feet, about a third the size of

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North Carolina Let Them Build Act targets environmental reviews

As North Carolina House Democrats take another swing at sweeping housing reform, a Democratic senator is seeking to streamline environmental reviews to accelerate construction. Sen. Woodson Bradley filed the “Let Them Build Act” on Thursday afternoon, days after House colleagues filed a bill titled “Relieving Housing Bottlenecks” to address the state’s affordable housing crisis. For

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Minnesota zoning reform push for starter homes falters

A third go at trying to reboot starter-home construction in Minnesota is on life support at the state Legislature, with supporters scrambling to revive it before the session ends. High-profile zoning reform bills failed in a House committee and missed key Senate deadlines late last month, potentially dooming the effort as had happened over the

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